Death Metal

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    Cryptopsy - As Gomorrah Burns (2023)

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    Fully righting their musical ship, today we have Canadian legends Cryptopsy and their first full length release in over 10 years: “As Gomorrah Burns”. Returning to that vicious Brutal Death Metal sound from their earlier years, the band delivers eight tracks and 33 minutes of crushing brutality. While the band showed their mettle with a new lineup during “The Book of Suffering - Tome I and II”, this release perfectly blends their old style with newer and fresher Technical DM elements that nicely polish their sound.

    The band quickly makes a statement with the pummeling “Lascivious Undivine”, and follows it with the even more blistering “In Abeyance”. The best part of this opening pair of tracks is that you can hear the old-school Death Metal from the band perfectly blended with a fresher and more modern edge of current Technical Death Metal/Deathcore productions. Blasting the listener away, one of our favorite tracks has to be “Godless Deceiver” and its intense drumming, perfectly flanked by chuggy riffs and hellish vocals.

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    Crypta - Shades of Sorrow (2023)

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    Following up an epic release such as “Echoes of the Soul”, is a hard job, luckily for us, Crypta manages to not only match the intensity but also surpass it with the killer “Shades of Sorrow”. Featuring 13 tracks and over 50 minutes of high-octane music, the band keeps leveling everything in their path to greatness.

    Leading with the pummeling “Dark Clouds” after a short intro, we are instantly incited to mosh and headbang with the blistering guitar work of Tainá Bergamaschi and Jéssica Falchi. Chuggy riffs, crafty drums, and hellish vocals mark tracks like “Poisonous Apathy”, “The Outsider”, and “Stronghold”. All filled with intense tempo changes and waves of old-school DM mixed in with epic melodies and throbbing bass guitar lines.

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    Akercoke - Decades of Devil Worship (2023)

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    Unleashing their characteristic levels of insane brutality, today we have UK’s Akercoke with their live offering “Decades of Devil Worship”. Like a bag of cement to the face, this release perfectly captures the band’s vicious and relentless musical onslaughts, delivering 64 minutes of some of their more hellish songs. If you never experienced the band live, this album gets you right in front of the action, making you want to start breaking things and moshing incessantly.

    After the eerie “Conjuration” intro, the band fully discharges their punishing aggression with “Hell”, “Nadja”, and “Marguerite & Gretchen”. While the band’s sound is piercing, their technicality and execution is brilliant, making sounds sound very crisp and direct, as “Zuleika” and “Il giardino di Monte Oliveto Maggiore” demonstrate.

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    Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (2023)

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    With a highly polished and equally crushing Progressive Death Metal/Grindcore sound, today we have Cattle Decapitation and their latest demoralizing release “Terrasite”. Unleashing 50+ minutes of music in 10 tracks, the band unravels their most punishing release to date. Aging like a fine wine, this outfit has constantly evolved their sound to be a great balance of brutality with technicality and atmosphere, creating some of the nicest sounding imposing releases in the scene.

    Opening with the dramatic “Terrasitic Adaptation”, we get some chilling atmospheric keyboards, courtesy of Dis Pater, aka Tony Parker, alongside imposing riffs and the insanely dynamic vocals of Travis Ryan. We particularly love how the band goes from 0 to 100 in seconds, unleashing hellish drumming, diverse vocal styles and an overall sense of brutality unlike no one else. Perfect examples of this devastating style are songs like “We Eat Our Young”, the more traditional DM “The Insignificants”, to the extravagant bombasticness of “A Photic Doom”.

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    Vintersea - Woven Into Ashes (2023)

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    There are few albums that span almost every possible genre of Metal, in a cohesive and creative way. Today, Vintersea manages to achieve the near-impossible with their latest opus “Woven Into Ashes”. Further expanding their Progressive Death/Black Metal core, the band throws in some Doom/Djent/Goth elements to the nearly 50 minutes of music split in eight tracks. If you liked the band’s previous effort, “Illuminated”, you will certainly love this one.

    Opening with crafty guitars and very lively tempo changes, “Unveiling Light” gives us that Into Eternity vibe from their “Buried In Oblivion/The Scattering of Ashes” days. Things get quite heavy, in a very Death Metal way on “Devil’s Churn”, with quite brutal and intense opening that suddenly waves back and forth melodic clean-vocal sections. Avienne Low is a very talented vocalist that perfectly transitions between hypnotic clean vocals and powerful harsh screams as the blistering “At the Gloaming Void” and “Lonesome Tide”.

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    Memoriam - Rise to Power (2023)

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    Fronted by Karl Willetts, Memoriam has consistently released in-your-face old-school Death Metal releases for a few years now, and with “Rise to Power” they continue leveling everything in their way. Featuring eight tracks and over 45 minutes of headbanging bliss, this release brings back nostalgic times while keeping up with the times with a superb production and a more melodic edge.

    Opening with “Never Forget, Never Again (6 Million Dead)”, we get a high-octane track with punishing guitars and crafty drums, perfectly paired with Karl’s signature snarl. There are definitely some Bolt Thrower influences here and there, but the band zeroes in on heavy, well-crafted, and intense pieces like “Total War”, “I am the Enemy”, and the sinister “The Conflict Is Within” and its chuggy riffs.

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    Scars of the Flesh - In Darkness Alone (2022)

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    Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, today we have Scars of the Flesh and their third full-length release “In Darkness Alone”. Unleashing five original tracks and four very well crafted cover songs, the band showcases their own brand of Death Metal with some Melodic/Progressive influences for over 50 minutes of engaging music. For fans of bands like Cenotaph, The Chasm, and similar outfits, this band packs a big punch and nicely combines it with a good dose of melody.

    Opening with the punishing “Only I”, a dark and sinister mood is quickly set thanks to the incisive guitars and Kobey Lange’s growls. While there are plenty of classic Death Metal riffs used, tracks like “The Hooded One” and “In Darkness Alone” add extra layers of melody alongside technical craftiness and even some additional atmospheric elements. Our favorite track has to be the mournful “Memory Unknown”, a track that has some killer Doomy undertones and excellent guitar leads and headbanging moments.

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    Lamentations - Passion of Depression (2022)

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    Delivering a hefty dose of high-octane Progressive Death Metal, today we have Lamentations and their sophomore release “Passion of Depression”. We particularly enjoy proggy/technical releases that actually have well structured and enjoyable songs and are not just a self-wanking fest of technical proficiency. Luckily for the listeners the band unleashes seven excellent songs filled with crafty tempo changes, moody arrangements and excellent musicality.

    From the lush opener “Prodigal”, we get a very engaging Cynic-meets-Persefone vibe, perfectly balancing proggy interludes with some heavier and more complex sections. All band members this time around are basically the same guys behind Monotheist, and it shows that the music is quite cohesive and well integrated, with each instrument shining at different stages but never overpowering the general flow of tracks like “Anew” and “Shiver”. These tracks deliver excellent melodic passages, dreamy vocals and a pulsating bass guitar line.

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    Catalyst - A Different Painting for a New World (2022)

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    Hailing from France, today we have a very engaging and technically proficient outfit with Catalyst and their sophomore full-length release “A Different Painting for a New World”. With a very catchy and crafty Tech/Prog Death Metal sound, reminding us of a mixture of Scar Symmetry, Persefone, and Into Eternity, this band delivers nearly one hour of neck-snapping music that will immediately please any fan of the genre.

    After building momentum with the opener, the band wastes no time to unleash their riffing onslaught with the pummeling “To Unleash Thy Heinous Fate”, a track that is both blistering and crafty. The band’s style is very well balanced as they expertly mix harsh grows and tempo changes with virtuosity as we can hear in pieces like “The Last Warning”, “Worms and Locusts”, and “Arise of the Anathema”. This last track is one of our favorites thanks to how dynamic and explosive it is.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Ravenoir - In the Womb of Sin (2022)

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    Unleashing a nice old-school Death Metal vibe, Ravenoir delivers over 40 minutes of catchy and engaging music with “In the Womb of Sin”. With a sound more akin to Grave, Dismember, and Entombed than current DM outfits, the band perfectly balances atmospheric elements with melody and crunchy guitars. Featuring a couple of members of the defunct Root and other Czech outfits, this release is full of nostalgia and craft songs for any fan of the genre.

    After setting a mysterious and yet imposing mood with the opener “The Ecstasy of Desecration”, the band’s excellent riffing sets the album’s more sinister tone with the brilliant album title track. Changing gears into more traditional and punishing territories, “The Cold of Casemates” and “The Scene Obscene” have that vicious edge that makes this band standout from the rest, particularly when combined with the subtle atmospherics and the intense guitar leads.

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